The Best & Worst Parts Of Pregnancy

Being pregnant is such an emotional rollercoaster, it’s tiring, draining and you can just randomly burst into tears at anytime for no apparent reason. But there are also the parts that make you fall deeper in love with your baby, those movements, their kicks and listening to their heartbeat. Here are a few things in my experience which I thought were the best and the worst parts of being pregnant.

Worst Parts

Morning Sickness

The ‘morning sickness’ that can happen at any moment during the day! My sickness started at 10 weeks and didn’t start to fade until 30 weeks, it wasn’t so much the being sick it was the feeling sick I couldn’t stand. The constant feeling of needing to be sick but there is nothing, all day long. I’d wake up in the middle of the night to be sick, go back to sleep and when I woke up in the morning I’d feel sick all day. I tried ginger biscuits, they worked for about a week until the taste of ginger made me heave. It got to a point where I had to take time off work and was prescribed anti-sickness medication by my doctor which seemed like the only thing that helped.

Heartburn

I’ve never suffered with heartburn before, but pregnancy just made heartburn a normal thing for me. I’d usually get it at around 3-4am in the morning and would wake up with this horrible burning sensation in my throat and that horrible watery feeling in your mouth. I kept bottles of Gaviscon next to my bed and would take a swig in the middle of the night if It woke me up. Throughout my whole pregnancy I went through 6 bottles of Gaviscon.

Fatigue

Fatigue and tiredness creeps up on you so early into your pregnancy, well it did with me anyway. I’d finish work at 8pm after working from 7.30am and as soon as I got home I’d fall to sleep on the sofa. Nothing would keep me awake, not even my favourite tv programmes. Even the simplest of tasks would make me tired, I don’t think people realise how tiring it is to grow a little human.

Bloating

The first few months are, is it a bump or is it just a bloat? You can never really be too sure, my bump wasn’t visible to I was about 28 weeks. I remember one time at work I was about 30 weeks pregnant and due to the nature of the job I told the member of staff I’d have to step outside, it completely baffled her that I seemed as though I was being way to cautious but after I explained to her I was actually heavily pregnant and she had absolutely no idea, she was quite shocked!

Peeing

You get to a point in pregnancy where you go to the toilet about 4567 times an hour, as your baby gets bigger the more pressure is put on your bladder. So wherever you decide to go make sure there’s a toilet nearby. Through the night the peeing got more intense for me, I’d wake about 4 times in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.

Being Uncomfortable

I got to a certain point in my pregnancy where I’d just had enough, I was so uncomfortable. I couldn’t sleep, i couldn’t get comfortable in bed or on the sofa. Even walking made me uncomfortable. I was a big ball of uncomfortable mess, if I tried to lie down on the sofa I couldn’t breathe properly, I had to lie with my head slightly elevated. I suffered terrible with restless legs and itchy skin. I had my liver function tested because of the constant itching. I’d make my skin red raw from scratching, the only thing that would relieve the itching was a warm bath every single night in oilatum then covering myself head to toe in aqueous cream. Restless legs were a nightmare, sitting on the sofa I just couldn’t stop them. I had numerous amounts of nights where I wouldn’t sleep because I couldn’t get comfortable because my legs felt like something was crawling up them. It felt like a weird nerve thing, if I moved my legs they’d feel better for a few seconds then if they were still the sensation would literally come crawling back.

Swollen Ankles (Kankles)

All the fluid that builds up in your ankles, mine turned into massive kankles. My feet and ankles looked like they morphed into each other, I had no ankles, it was one large, swollen mess. Even after having Oscar my ankles started swelling up again.

Sleeping

I had trouble with restless legs, itchy skin, heartburn, nausea and needing to pee a lot. Trying to find a comfortable position was hard, you can’t lie on your front, when I sleep I like to be on my front with my leg in the shape of a triangle. I couldn’t do that, I could only sleep on my back and I absolutely hated it. I couldn’t breathe properly and my back was in pieces when I woke up.

Hormones

Your hormones will be, EVERYWHERE! Up, down, left and right they are all over the place. One minute you can be as happy as larry, the next your sitting on the sofa watching emmerdale and you’re crying your eyes out for absolutely no reason what so ever! You will cry at pointless things, the smallest most miniscule thing will make your blood boil. Everything will get on your nerves! Then you’re cold one minute and feeling extremely hot the next, you’ve been sitting in the same position all day but you go from one extreme to the next.

Waiting

From about 35-36 weeks onwards, I’d gone off on maternity leave and I was sick of waiting. The first week or so wasn’t too bad, I could sit on the sofa all day watching crap TV and napping but after that it just dragged. It felt like I’d been off work for years and I was sick of waiting. The wait just seems so much longer the closer to your due date you go. I can’t even imagine what it would be like being late either because Oscar was 6 days early.

Pregnant

Best Parts

They always say to keep the best till last so here we have it.

BOY

Heartbeat

Listening to that heartbeat, it’s the most relaxing, exciting thing I’ve ever heard. That instant wave of comfort you get when you hear it, that beautiful heartbeat. I loved listening to Oscar’s heartbeat that much we had it recorded and put inside a little elephant shaped bear, I still listen to it now and show it to Oscar. He has absolutely no idea at the moment what it is but I love hearing it.

Comfies

I lived my entire pregnancy in leggings. I went from normal leggings to over the bump maternity ones, not a day passed where I didn’t have them on. I tried maternity skinny jeans, under and over the bump and they were just so uncomfortable, I hated the feting of being restricted in them. 5 months of my pregnancy consisted of me wearing leggings, jumper dresses and uggs. I felt so comfortable, the uggs were fantastic because my feet would swell up and they would be really sore in certain shoes but in my uggs it was like walking on clouds.

People Are More Considerate

Being pregnant I’d get complete strangers holding a door open for me or giving their seat up on a packed out bus. People just seem to be so much nicer to you and it’s so wonderful to see.One time we got on the transfer bus from the airport in Zante to the plane, it was hot, sweaty and packed. I had Oscar in my arms as we had to put the pushchair down for luggage.A lovely, kind lady stood up out of her seat and offered it up for me and Oscar. On those buses if your standing you have to hold on for dear life. It was so lovely and I was extremely thankful that she allowed us to have her seat so I could hold Oscar properly and it felt so much safer.

Scans

Those beautiful black and white images of your tiny little human on this huge screen in front of you. Granted you can’t really see much but that’s your baby, you made that! I always felt so excited when I knew we were due another scan, I’d countdown the days until our next appointment and we even had private scans in-between.

Hair

My hair when I was pregnant was like I’d had a hair transplant. It was thicker, softer, healthier and shinier. Then after having Oscar it’s became greaser quicker, dried out and it falls out of my head at an alarming rate (although I am told this is perfectly normal). I want my pregnancy hair back please.

Skin

For some reason your skin become so much more glowing when pregnant, I don’t know if it’s the blood flow or what but I noticed my skin was so much healthier and just looked so nice. That completely changed after birth. But for those few months I could have no make up days and not feel completely horrendous in my normal skin.

Nesting

You go through this period where you feel like you need to clean, the house needs to be clean, baby proof and sterile. I found myself sterilising the cupboard doors, for what reason, I have no clue. Setting up your nursery and moses baskets etc, it’s so exciting and made it feel all the more real for me. It also made time go a little quicker the more I organised things over and over and over and over again.

No Period

Talking of periods, 9 whole entire months of no period, no pains, no running out to the nearest shop when you have those oops moments, nothing. Absolute bliss. Unfortunately it doesn’t last too long after birth, in fact it feels like you have a 9 month period after giving birth but it was fun whilst it lasted I suppose.

Maternity Leave

If you are entitled to ML at work, you can look forward to 9 whole entire months of lie ins, napping in the day and not lifting a finger. Well kind of, once baby is here everything changes. You’ll get the odd lie in and a few naps but let me tell you, it is hard work staying at home all day every day! All I can say is spend as much time with your little ones as possible because on returning to work you will long for those days of spending all day everyday with your babies.

Labour

Although it is probably the most uncomfortable, painful, exhausting situation you could ever put yourself in, that moment you give birth and hear that cry. The first moment you see your baby and hold your baby on your chest is the most magical, thrilling experience you could ever imagine. It’s a feeling you wish you could bottle up and re live time and time again. Those first cuddles and kisses with baby are what you’ve been waiting for.

Newborn

I really didn’t enjoy my pregnancy towards the end, I moaned, I groaned, I ached, I cried but I would do it all over again! To feel those beautiful little movements inside your belly knowing that’s your tiny little human completely outweigh all the nausea, backaches and hormonal rages. I feel so lucky to have had a safe delivery with Oscar with not many complications, I know some people have a really hard time and can sometimes turn dangerous.

If you’d like to read more about pregnancy take a look at my other blog posts.

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2 thoughts on “The Best & Worst Parts Of Pregnancy”

Your points are so relatable! I actually find the discomfort comforting. I’m currently 18 weeks and dealing with a lot of stretching, pulling, growing, and pressure, but it reminds me that my little man is growing big and strong!

Hi I’m Hayley, first time mummy and first time blogger, Mummy to Oscar and Wife-To-Be to Lee. Working full-time in ED and living in the West Midlands, I survive on cups of tea during the day and gin on Friday nights.